CGC and Therapy Work Classes...

[Christine & Shelby]

Hi everyone,

 

I am interested in training Shelby to be a Therapy dog.  I am curious at what age did you start your Doodles in CGC and Therapy classes.  Shelby is currently 8 months and has completed puppy kindergarten and passed her AKC Star Puppy Class.

 

I look forward to reading your responses!

 

Thanks,

Christine and Shelby

[Ron Carnes]

I think the minimum age is one year for therapy dog. Zack is 15 months and we will take our CGC test this month. I am a little concerned about his meet and greet skills. Him and I are pretty confident in everything else. Overland Park, Kansas has a Delta Society but they don't do any training classes.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We started at 3 months with Basic obedience, then intermediate, then advanced. The remainder of the work we did on our own with just repeated training and lots and lots of socialization practice. There isn't a requirement for the CGC to take the Therapy Test as far as I know so we did not bother paying to take it, but instead just took the Therapy test. You can get all of the testing requirements on line and there isn't a requirement to take the classes unless you feel you need the assistance. We thought that we would be able to test at a year old, but ended up waiting until Sophie was 2 years old. Lucy is still a little shy in some cases and therefore we have decided not to push her but to let her mature a little more before testing. Good Luck.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

With Guinness we started really young. He did Puppy K, then Intermediate, then CGC, and finally he did an actual Therapy Dog training class and had his evaluation. He was 13 mos when he passed the TDI test. We actually just went from one training class to another until he completed the final TDI certification. I think Murph will need to be a little older. He's passed the AKC Puppy Star class, and in the Fall I'm going to put him into CGC. I'll see how well he does with that, before I make a final decision on when I think he's ready for the Therapy class. With him I'm going to skip the Intermediate class, because I didn't get that much out of it with Guinness. I absolutely loved CGC. I'm so glad I get to go through this again with Murph. I would really miss the sense of accomplishment that we both get from the formal classes (and we love hanging those "certificates" on the wall in the "dog room"). Have fun with it...I absolutely loved the whole process, and there's nothing like it for "bonding".

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Good luck to you and Maddy next Friday.....

[laurie lehr]

Jasper was 9mnths when he started CGC classes . We haven't had time for the therapy classes yet at 20mnths but we'll follow through with the rest of the classes soon .

[emily]

Hi Christine,

My dog Paisley is also in training to be a therapy dog. Check out TDI (Therapy Dog International) for information on how to get your pup certified through them. They have to be at least a year prior to testing. Not sure where you are located, but in Atlanta, there are several organizations that work with people who want to volunteer in hospitals, libraries, etc... with their dogs. They don't require a TDI certification.

You are going to bless so many by sharing Shelby in this way! It's just incredible!

Emily and Paisley